Free Republic

The claim originated with The Babylon Bee, a Christian satirical outlet that Snopes has repeatedly debunked. Claim: In December 2025, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz hired a Somali company for $8 billion to investigate fraud in the state. As reports of a sprawling tax fraud scheme by members of Minnesota's Somali community multiplied in late December 2025, a rumor circulated online that the state's Democratic Gov. Tim Walz had granted $8 billion to a Somali company to investigate fraud in Minnesota. For example, on Dec. 29, a Facebook user posted a screenshot of an article noting Walz's alleged decision to hire...

In June 2025, rumors abounded that Isra Hirsi, daughter of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, had posted "death to the colonial empire" from Los Angeles to Rafah in Gaza on an Instagram story. Instagram stories are posts that disappear after 24 hours unless the accounts that post them highlight them on their profile page. For example, X user End Wokeness shared a screen capture of the supposed Instagram story alongside a photograph of Hirsi with her mother Omar (archived): As of this writing, the End Wokeness post had gained 10,000 and 660,000 views. The screen capture appeared...

In a sharp rebuke of comedian Tony Hinchcliffe's characterization of Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage" during a rally for Republican former U.S. President Donald Trump, Democratic President Joe Biden made a remark that appeared to characterize Trump supporters as "garbage." Controversy arose not only because Trump's supporters took offense at what they heard, but because the White House released a transcript offering a different take on what Biden said or meant to say. Specifically, the controversy hinged on whether Biden said "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters," plural, meaning all of Trump's...